Sales: Getting Your Ducks in a Row

Time to Wrap up 2009 Sales

If you are a retailer, this is your time. Take two hours this week to look at how you’re doing for the holiday season. Make a mini-plan now to refresh your store windows every Monday between now and the new year. Foot traffic attracted by your displays can create energy and impulse buys.

To help rev up your energy:

Get tips on business vision from mighty entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Free to you thanks to our interview. Get Download.

Free offers are interesting. Use them sparingly, but offer something of value. In retail, this loss leader generates excitement, interest and the sense that you really get your customers & their needs.

I have a free offer for you. Visit the SCORE landing page to find out about our Free 1 Gig USB Drive. Visit page to Contact us (hint: link at end of page)  to be one of 10 who get a free drive each week in December. Visit December offers.

Always free and confidential SCORE business advice. It’s what we are all about connecting you with experienced business experts as mentors. Give SCORE a try. Ask SCORE online.

Visit next Wednesday for a post on sales forecasting.

-Christine Banning, SCORE
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Leave a Comment December 16, 2009

Leadership: Principle 1 – Tell the Truth

In Work as in Life, I Live by Four Simple Principles.

These principles keep me on course and facilitate every business and social interaction I have. They free me to be creative and productive. They enable me to see and take advantage of opportunities. They are the first thing I share with my management team in every company I manage and form the basis of our working relationship. When the team follows these practical principles, the flow of communication is smooth; productivity and morale are high.

These four simple principles are the most powerful, readily adoptable tool I’ve used in my career and in my life. I want to share them with you over the course of the next month. Check back every Friday to learn more about each guiding principle.

Principle 1: Tell the Truth All the Time
It’s less confusing. You don’t have to remember what you said and to whom. And you won’t trip over conflicting remarks. This one is very basic and also very hard to do at times. Oftentimes, we say what we think others want to hear to keep them happy. When the truth comes out later, everyone is unhappy. More importantly, there is less time to fix whatever you were afraid to say in the first place.

Telling the truth all the time keeps your mind clear of the clutter and reduces the stress of having to remember the various versions of the “truth.” Whatever problem you’re trying to avoid will be resolved much sooner if you tell the truth and deal with it immediately. Letting the skeletons multiply in the closet only makes things worse.

The reach of technology today means that sooner or later, whether it is deleted computer files or missed financial payments, the truth will come out. Deal with the issue when it appears and you’ll not only sleep better, but you’ll learn more quickly and ensure that you keep moving forward.

Marilyn Tam, Guest Blogger
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3 Comments June 12, 2009

Sneak Peek: What's New in April

April is the time to stimulate sales and increase profit. Find out how with help from SCORE.

New @ SCORE
Accelerate Your Profits
April Resources to Rev Up Your Biz
Tools for Selecting the Best Employee Benefits

Free Downloads
Small Business Basics (PDF)
Lower Costs of Communications (PDF)
Seven Branding Tips for Small Businesses (PDF)

April Feature
Dream Test Competition

Don’t go it alone. Contact a SCORE mentor to help your biz spring back into action.

Leave a Comment March 31, 2009

Start: Entrepreneurship, Still an Option

How to Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur

Several weeks ago, I discussed starting your business in a recession and also mentioned a few famous companies that launched during economic slumps. So if you’re thinking about starting a business, don’t give up just because the economy looks bleak. But, do make decisions now that will help you succeed.

1. Find a quiet and dedicated office space away from any distractions (and yes, the television counts). Even if it’s just a desk in your bedroom or family room.
2. Set aside specific days and times to work on starting your business. A few hours after work and on the weekend can go a long way. If not, you’re likely to get distracted by the daily hustle and bustle of life.
3. Start networking. Create accounts on several key social networking sites such as ZoomInfo, LinkedIn and Facebook. This lets your friends and colleagues know that you’re open for business. Attend free events in your area where you can connect with potential clients and others in your industry. Above all, get a business card and give it out to everyone.
4. Take advantage of your current income. Do some pro-bono work or create a few free product giveaways. I used this method and within a month I had more requests for paid work than I could handle. Remeber, during a recession, your best tools are quality and customer service.
5. Start small, expand slowly. Live off the income from your day job and re-invest profits back into your business. Continue to take on small projects until the revenue from your business is not only stable, but also sustainable. Make sure you have a solid plan and talk to a mentor before finally leaving your day job. This will help create a solid foundation for success.
6. Think outside of the box. During difficult times, it’s the innovative entrepreneurs that flourish. Find ways to us the current situation to your advantage. Above all, stay creative. I recently heard the story of a regular guy who happened to be handy. At the beginning of the recession last year, he started boarding up houses after fires and storms for a friend that owned an insurance company. Because no one else was offering this specialized service, he soon became the go-to man. Within a year, his accidental business had grossed over $1 million in revenue…and all this during a recession.

Read more about succeeding during a recession. I’d love to hear your stories of how you made the transition from employee to entrepreneur. Or, if you have specific questions about transitioning, please leave a comment below.

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Upcoming Small Biz Contests

Intuit Biz Story Competition
Grand Prize: $25,000 grant and $2,500 in products
Deadline: March 23, 2009
Dell Small Biz Contest
Grand Prize: $50,000 in Dell products and services
Deadline: April 3, 2009
Women 2.0 Startup Competition
Grand Prize: Win a meeting w/ Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital) and more
Deadline: April 10, 2009
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-Jacalyn Barnes, SCORE
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2 Comments March 9, 2009

Managing: New Year, New Start

Wishing you a happy & prosperous New Year!

Here are a few tools to get your year (and business) off to the right start.

Tax Tips for 2009
Home Biz Tax Breaks
10 Tax Tips for Small Biz
5 Tips on Proper Tax Filing

Templates for Start-ups
Start-up Expenses
Start-up Business Plan
Nonprofit Planning Tools

Tools for Existing Businesses
Competitive Analysis
Plan for Established Business
12 Month Cash Flow Statement

You can find these and other helpful tools at www.score.org.

To your success,

From all of us at SCORE
Ask SCORE online

1 Comment January 1, 2009

Finance: Sarah's Sweet Success Secrets

Sarah @ sweetriot on Raising Rioting Capital

Raising money is never fun and you’ve probably heard other entrepreneurs discuss it. I have two experiences to share.

Ask Broadly
When I first started to raise money, a fellow entrepreneur said to me, “The ones you think will say yes, will say no. The ones you think will say no, will say yes.“ That advice stays with me still today because it was so insightful. Indeed you cannot always predict who will say yes to your capital request. This makes it even more important to ask broadly, which brings me to my second point.

Don’t be Afraid
As a Midwestern public school girl from a small town, raising money was not my forte nor was a pleasant experience. I finally had to get myself to the point of realizing that I was offering an ‘opportunity’ rather than trying to take something away from people. High net worth individuals and business people love discussing opportunities so go for it!

Success Secret
Belief in yourself and just ask…EVERYONE.

Sarah Endline, Guest Blogger
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3 Comments December 26, 2008

Growth: 3 Surefire Tips to Grow Your Biz

Keep Your Eye on the Ball.
When you start a business, money is always tight. Attractive opportunities present themselves as quick ways to bring in revenue, but they are a complete departure from your core business strategy. Before you decide to go for it, stop and think about the ramifications of your decision. How much of a distraction is this going to be? One of the biggest reasons many small businesses fail is because they take on projects or products that are completely unrelated to their business strategy and subsequently the original business suffers. Trying to be all things to all people is impossible.Stay focused on your core business.

Set Milestones.
Create a business plan with a timeline and milestones. Without established benchmarks, days, weeks and months can pass by while you talk, talk, talk about what you’re going to do, but you never get around to doing it.You may not meet all your goals as quickly as you predicted.In fact, in most cases you won’t. It typically takes twice as long, and twice as much money, as you think it will to achieve your objectives. Nonetheless, your established milestones keep you focused on progress.

Take Action Every Day.
Never let a day go by in your business where you haven’t done at least one activity to help you reach your business goals. Business success requires discipline–the discipline to practice those things that are instrumental for your success. Only occasionally making a sales call or attending a networking event won’t keep the pipeline filled with new business opportunities.One thing that works well for me is creating a list of top priorities, “the must dos” for the day, and getting those items completed first. Otherwise, I find it’s easy to get sidetracked with answering emails, cleaning my office area or working on a project I enjoy but isn’t a strategic business need.

Make sure you work smart and use your valuable time productively.

-Susan Wilson Solovic, guest blogger

5 Comments August 8, 2008